A portable gun; SYN. piece, small-arm.
Weapon from which projectiles are discharged by the combustion of an explosive. Firearms are generally divided into two main sections: artillery (ordnance or cannon), with a bore greater than 2.54 cm/1 in, and small arms, with a bore of less than 2.54 cm/1 in.
Although gunpowder was known in Europe 60 years previously, the invention of guns dates from 1300 to 1325, and is attributed to Berthold Schwartz, a German monk. SYN. fire arm, fire-arm.